Joey Barton SLAMS 'spineless' Arsenal

BLAST: Joey Barton pulled no punches in his assessment of Arsene Wenger and Arsenal [GETTY]

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is set to mark 18 years in charge with a London derby away to Chelsea on Sunday but Joey Barton sees no reason to celebrate.

When discussing Arsenal's dismal away record against top teams the QPR midfielder told BBC Radio 5 live that rival managers "had Wenger on toast".

"In big games they get under his skin and work them out tactically." said Barton.

Arsenal have a pathetic record of 1 win in their 20 away matches against top five teams over the last five years.

When the Gunners made the trip to Stamford Birdge last season it was Wenger's 1,000th game in charge and they were humbled 6-0.

Barton said: "That record is probably the reason they haven't won a title for years.

"Nobody can criticise Wenger on the job he has done to build the infrastructure at that club to a fantastic level. But it's probably been sacrificed at the cost of trophies and challenging at that level.

“One player told me that Arsene doesn't like anybody raising their voice at half-time”

Joey Barton

"You think of his teams of [Emmanuel] Petit, [Patrick] Vieira, [Tony] Adams, [Martin] Keown and all those kind of warriors. You look around the Arsenal dressing room now, the people who would win you those kind of games against the top four clubs - they don't really have an abundance of them."

The former Marseille midfielder says that Wenger's attitude discourages leadership within the squad and his style is the reason for their lack of success in recent years.

"At the latter stages of a season they come unstuck because of that lack of - I hate to say it - a real lack of character or spine within the team.

"One of the things that comes out of the Arsenal dressing rooms is the change in culture from his first sides to now, where he's developing from within.

"One player told me that Arsene doesn't like anybody raising their voice at half-time if it's not going well. He almost frowns upon it.

"Sometimes you need someone to galvanise and that might be a shouter and bawler. It may not be Arsene's way, but I think they lack that.

"Psychologically, the managers of these big clubs are usually top managers and I think they've had Wenger on toast. Sir Alex Ferguson had him on toast in the end and Mourinho's got him on toast now. That's what costs them."